dwart

I recently got a 2nd hand 2005 s2000 from my local dealer, had 12 000 kms/7500 miles, I drove it for about 1000 kms/ 650 miles without any problems, and just before I went away on holiday had the car checked over as I was planning on covering some distance with the car.

When I got the car back the clutch was making a slight screaching sound and it felt different than usual, sorta sticking slightly, so the next day I took it back only to get the tech guy tell me that they lubed the clutch and that it just needs to wear back in and that I could go on my trip without having to worry about anything.

After driving some distance the clutch started to get worse and after driving about 4500 kms/ 2800 miles I got to a much smaller Honday dealer. I phoned up my normal dealer and asked them if I can have the clutch checked out by the local dealer, their response was that I should drive the car back home like that and they will look at it when I get back.

So after I get back doing a total of almost 5500 kms/ 3500 miles ( at this point its hard to change gears the clutch sticks right at the top) I took it in, they took the clutch out and are refusing to pay for it because they say its driver abuse.

My question is, can I screw the clutch up over this distance without doing anything questionable with the car like spinning wheels etc ?

The dealer is claiming that the clutch is "Burnt" and that I could have burnt it out within 200 kms and that they have no way of telling if it was me or the previous owner.

S2Kabob

if they have no way of telling if it was you or the previous owner, then they should cover it...

somtimes i dont get it... but look on the bright side..

pay the dealer for a new clutch..

or

go AFTERMARKET ~!!

JackS

Ask to speak to the service manager. Explain your side of the story and see if they might have a change of heart and repair it free of charge. If not , refuse to do business with this dealer ever again.
Replace the clutch yourself or have an independent garage do it for you. Independents in most cases will be cheaper than dealers doing the same job.

deathsled

what the heck does "lubed the clutch" mean?

the pedal maybe, but the clutch? I would want to know more about what they did

blackout

hmm lubing the clutch aye? seems to me like that would cause slippage and burnage haha

Jsmply

This is the type of situation where you need to be VERY firm with them. Politely pleed your case and let them know you will go as far as it takes. Let them know you first noticed the problems BEFORE your trip, you brought it to them and they told you something ridiculious like "lubing the clutch" (???) and tell them you hope to resolve this with them in a civilized manor, but if not you are prepared to go all the way with it (manager, regional service rep, honda of america, etc).

Technically, if they sold you the car as-is they can probably get away with it even if it was the previous owner, but any reputable dealer should cover this to avoid the bad reputation. Offer to go for a ride with them in another manual car on the lot and demonstrate you know how to drive manual and that this was NOT your doing.

Lastly, if worse case scenario they will not cover it (which I think they will with some pressure), you might try to offer to buy the parts if they will install it for free since they already have it a part. If this is the case, I highly recommend the hardtopguy.com kit which will still use the Honda OEM clutch disc, just with a stronger ACT pressure plate and lighter flywheel which makes a BIG differance in the AP2 s2000's.

Just for the record, lubing the clutch makes no sense. First of all, they cannot lube the clutch in typical maintenance. The tranny/clutch fork MAYBE? The pedal MAYBE? Those are possible I suppose, but I HIGHLY doubt they would be doing that with such low mileage on the car. I doubt the manual calls for that at all, let alone at such low mileage. I'd be just as concerned that the dealer themselves took it out for a jow ride and burnt the clutch out themselves if it just started demonstrating the symptoms after bringing it in to the dealer.

Keep us posted, we are here to help!

Keep us posted!

dwart

Neither the service manager at the dealer or Honda South Africa wanted to budge, they said that the clutch is only covered under normal wear conditions and they refused to pay because they claim driver abuse, it doesn't seem to concern them that they are giving a very recent customer a very bad experience.

I can't help but walk away from the dealer feeling gutted and angry at the people from Honda for not even taking responsibility for telling me to drive the car an extra 5000 kms/ 3000 miles when the clutch was clearly shot.

anyway so I paid for the clutch yesterday and it feels 100 times better that when I got the car to start with, but now I can't help but be concerned about other problems the car might have that the previous owner inflicted on it, one of the things I'm concerned about is when changing to 2nd it sorta feels like it scratches slightly, now the dealer says that this is normal and all s2000s do this, but then again thats the same thing they said about the clutch and look what happened there, can anyone comment about this scratching feeling I'm getting when changing to 2nd ?

also anything else I can look out for as the previous owner was clearly on a mission to kill the car while he still had it.

Thanks

slipstream444

A different subject all-together...

It's a common problem, but not really 'normal'.
Change the fluid out. The latest iteration of the Honda MTF is supposedly better. The transmission takes a little less than 2 qts, and you'll need a hand pump to get it in the transmission.
It really doesn't sound like the dealership did you any favors. I'd recommend at least doing the basic stuff yourself (oil changes etc.).

What to look for... if the previous owner over-revved the motor, you may have retainer damage. Is your engine a 2.0l? I believe the 2.2l motor is only offered in the U.S. market. Retainer damage is really only seen in 2.0l motors.
Have a trusted mechanic inspect the retainers. Use this set of posts to help guide the inspection:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=437271

dwart

Thanks slipstream444

Yes it is the 2.0l engine so I'm holding thumbs, I'll change the fluid and check if its any better and have the retainers inspected.

I'm really hoping that the retainers aren't damaged, I'm already assuming that Honda won't pay to have it repaired.

Thanks again

Jsmply

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I do understand how you feel. When I bought my 2nd hand s2000 as soon as I found the smallest thing wrong with it, then I worried all the time that there was lots of damage. My clutch slipped a bit when I got it. I had it replaced with a transmission TSB and after that I had the whole car checked out because I kept wondering. My retainers are fine, the valve cover looked incredibly clean, the car has just been a lot of fun. I put 17,000 miles on the car in the past year and have had no mechanical issues really.

Do the retainer inspection ASAP to get it off your mind (make sure you find someone who knows what they are doing and follow the instructions in the above post), the Honda dealer will most likely not know how to do it. Change out your tranny fluid and possibly your diff fluid (MAKE SURE YOU USE THE RIGHT FLUID, DONT LET HONDA DO IT THEY DO NOT HAVE A OEM DIFF FLUID FOR AN S2000 AND THE HONDA ELEMENT DIFF FLUID WILL DESTROY AN S2K DIFF) to make sure you are all fresh, and you should be in good shape.

Keep us posted!